Page 23 of The Edge Of Us

“ENOUGH?!” I roared, stepping right into his face. “You don’t get to say that! You don’t get to pretend like this is some misunderstanding. You’re a cheating liar, Allen! And you—” I spat toward Natasha—“are dead to me.”

He reached for me again, and I shoved him with everything I had. “Get away from me. I swear to God, if you come near me again, I’ll lose whatever is left of my mind.”

Natasha sat on the floor, sobbing, her lip bleeding, hair wild, mascara streaked.

Allen was breathing hard, rubbing the red mark I left on his cheek, but I didn’t care. I didn’t feel sorry. I didn’t feel anything except devastation and white-hot betrayal.

I didn’t remember leaving. I didn’t remember getting into my car. All I knew was that suddenly, I was home, standing in front of my mother, the weight of what I had just seen crushing me.

“Mom,” I choked out, my voice barely above a whisper.

Her face filled with concern as she stepped closer. “Corinne, what’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came. Instead, a sob tore from my throat, raw and broken. My legs gave out beneath me, and I collapsed, my mother catching me just before I hit the ground.

She held me as I cried, rocking me back and forth like she did when I was a child. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here.”

But it wasn’t okay.

It would never be okay again.

Chapter 16

Allen

I paced the length of the dimly lit bedroom, my bare feet sinking slightly into the cold hardwood floor. The silence was thick, broken only by Natasha’s soft, rhythmic sobs from the bed. My thoughts were a storm of regret and resolve, each crashing into the other, leaving me raw and restless.

The room still carried the scent of sex, sweat, and now—something far heavier. Guilt. A kind that didn’t fade with time, only grew teeth.

Corinne’s face kept flashing before my eyes. That look—shattered, wide-eyed, as if her entire world had just been rippedin half. She hadn’t screamed. She hadn’t spoken. Just turned and walked out like someone who had been gutted.

I stopped pacing, resting my hand against the dresser for support.

“Allen…” Natasha’s voice broke through the silence, rough and unsure. “What now?”

I turned slowly. She was curled up beneath the sheets, her eyes swollen from crying, her fingers gripping the fabric like it could shield her from what we’d done.

I swallowed hard. “I’m going through with the divorce.”

She nodded once, slowly. “And… us?”

“I want to be with you,” I said, and the words felt strange leaving my mouth. “I think I’ve known that for a while. But I kept holding onto something that wasn’t working… because of the kids. Because I was afraid.”

Natasha looked down, quiet. “This isn’t how she should’ve found out.”

“No,” I agreed softly. “She deserved better than this.”

We sat in the silence for a moment before she asked, “And Kyle? Astrid? What happens to them?”

I hesitated. My chest tightened. “I’m going to file for full custody.”

Natasha’s eyes snapped up to mine, widening. “Full custody?”

“They’re my kids,” I said, the words heavy, weighted. “And I love them more than anything. But Corinne… she’s not in a place where she can give them what they need.”

Natasha didn’t speak right away. Her fingers picked at the hem of the sheet. “You really think that’s what’s best?”

“She’s spiraled, Natasha. The paranoia, the mood swings, she can't even touch Astrid without breaking down over nothing…” I trailed off, my voice tightening. “They’ll start to notice especially Kyle,he is getting older. And they’ll get scared. I can’t let them grow up walking on eggshells.”

---